Last Tuesday, November 12, Hopkinton’s Select Board (SB) wrapped up Police Chief Joe Bennett’s mid-year review. The review started back in February but was never officially completed. After the February meeting, many criticized Bennett for a lack of preparedness and a seeming reluctance to answer hard questions.
The difference between February’s meeting and Tuesdays was night and day. Not only was the SB’s composition different—with Brian Herr serving as chair rather than Muriel Kramer, Joe Clark, Amy Ritterbusch, and Mary-Jo LaFrenier present, and Shahidul Mannan absent—but Tuesday’s review lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes as opposed to about forty-five minutes in February.
Goals: Community engagement, Recruitment, and Professional Development
Bennett reported significant progress toward his goals. His explanation of his goals and progress toward them lasted only eight minutes in February. On Tuesday, he spoke extensively, with multiple pages of prepared notes. Bennett engaged with board members’ questions articulately and thoroughly.
Community Engagement
Bennett stressed his department’s social media successes. Bennett claimed that Hopkinton Police Department (HOD) has 7.4 thousand followers on Facebook and posts with up to 130,000 hits. According to Bennett, HPD’s social media team has “training in social media best practices as well as public records management because they have to be cognizant of everything that [they] put out.”
Another topic discussed extensively was HPD’s presence in schools and the community. HPD currently has one School Resource Officer (SRO), Sergeant Matt Santoro, in schools and intends to designate Officer Augusto Diaz as a second SRO.
Bennett mentioned additional community engagement programs, including the “Sweet Scoop Citation” program, which rewards good behavior in kids with ice cream coupons, the Blue Envelope campaign, meant to help officers identify autistic drivers during traffic stops, plus events like “Coffee with a Cop,” the Special Olympics’ basketball game, and the fishing derby.
Recruitment and Retention
Officer recruitment and retention were significant topics in Chief Bennett’s February review. At the time, HPD had multiple open positions and a high turnover rate. On Tuesday, Chief Bennett explained to the SB that his department is poised to be fully staffed after a few candidates graduate from the academy. This is particularly notable considering HPD’s recent struggles with recruitment and retention.
Professional Development
Chief Bennett reported that this goal is “50% done.” HPD is attempting to offer training and potential career paths aligned with employees’ interests and goals. Officers of rank also get leadership training. Chief Bennett reported that “the last time [he] went [through these trainings] was 10 years ago.” He expressed interest in refreshing his training, with an emphasis on learning how to use AI in policing. HPD is currently in the process of promoting a Deputy Chief.
The review wrapped up with questions from the SB to Chief Bennett. Chief Bennett may have been reflecting on the improper release of unredacted documents in January in his response to Chair Herr asking for one thing he learned on the job in the past year. The incident resulted in the personal information of former Deputy Jay Porter’s alleged victim, and her family becoming public. To make matters worse, SB member, Amy Ritterbusch, then put the information on her facebook page. The information was left online for 3 days—after the HPD had been notified of the error.
>> RELATED: Chief Bennett reveals victim’s identity
>> RELATED: From the Editor: Sorry Not Sorry We Outed the Victim, says the Town
The SB plans to perform Chief Bennett’s full annual review in December. While the SB seemed satisfied with Chief Bennett’s responses, the public was left with many unanswered questions.
Unanswered Questions, to name a few
- Drone: HPD has a new drone, but still no body-worn cameras. Why?
- Body-cam: The implementation has been in progress since at least February when former Select Board Chair Muriel Kramer expressed dismay at their continued absence.
- GPS: The public received no clarification on whether HPD cruisers are utilizing the GPS technology that HPD requested and received from the Town. According to sources, they are not. Why?
>> RELATED: GPS Disabled in all Hopkinton Police Vehicles
>> RELATED: Kramer calls for Independent Investigation of Police Chief
- Hours: Bennett is known to show up late and leave early. Why?
- Marathon Safety: Each year, Chief Bennett sends out a “Marathon Handbook” before the Boston Marathon with a list of Massachusetts State Troopers (MSP) to contact in the event of a threat.
Last Spring, HopNews investigated Chief Bennett’s “Marathon Handbook” for the previous Boston Marathon in 2023. The following State Police officers were listed as EMERGENCY CONTACTS:
- Capt. Mike Michno and Lt. Dave Buell—both retired just before the marathon.
- Lt. Deborah Ryan and Lt. Mary Sennott—both retired seven months before the marathon.
- Capt. Brian Moran—retired in 2021.
- Capt. John Mill—retired as a Major (one of four contacts listed under outdated ranks).
- Capt. James O’Leary, Lt. Michael Wheaton, and Capt. Brian Moore—all retired in 2020—three full years before the 2023 marathon.
- Lt. Walter Hanley, Lt. Charlie McPhail, and Capt. Christopher Wilcox—all retired.
- Lt. Daniel Griffin—retired in September 2020, and was then indicted for financial crimes in December 2020.
NOT ONE of the thirteen State Police Officers listed in Joe Bennett’s “Marathon Handbook” was employed by MSP in April 2023! Joe Bennett copied the information from a previous list, likely from the 2019 time frame.
Chief Joe Bennett’s job is to keep Hopkinton safe. Ensuring that emergency contact information is current, that the State Police Officers are still employed by MSP and working on Marathon Monday 2023, should have been the bare minimum.
Joe Bennett’s carelessness put thousands of lives at risk. In light of the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing, Hopkinton’s Chief of Police should have put an emphasis on safety measures for the start of the Boston Marathon, where tens of thousands of people gather together in downtown.
The previous Select Board was informed of Chief Bennett’s blunder in 2023, yet they decided that Bennett should keep his job, at least through the 2024 marathon, for safety.
Hopkinton residents can only hope (and should demand) that these issues are on the agenda for Chief Bennett’s annual review.
Review number of mentions social media 14 number mentions pizza party 5 number of mentions of well payed police chief opening his wallet to pay for pizza party 0 number of public safty mentions 2. # 1 job of police law enforcement 0 mentions #2 public safty 2 mentions. Chief only preformed minimum required work for 10 years ( not much of a leader). On a bright note the town has recruited new officers who are engaging great additions to are town . Good leadership will foster that to continue. Poor leadership will encourage cynicism for a job that has changed considerably over time.
This “article” is confusing. At the top of the page beneath the title it says “News” and “Opinion” side by side. Which is it? The piece appears to start out as News and then abruptly jump into Opinion without informing the reader accordingly.
The distinction should be clearly articulated (if one is intended), and either way seeing phrases like “according to sources” and “is known to show up late and leave early” without any supporting detail or factual basis feels like rumor-mongering. Not what I expect to see in a news article.